7 states that have voted for Republican presidents since 1972

Just seven US states have voted red in the last twelve presidential elections.

Most states tend to vote to same way in presidential elections, but there are interesting exceptions. Alabama has voted for a Republican president in every election since 1972 with the exception of the 1976 election in which the state backed Jimmy Carter. Then there are the swing states. Ohio has backed the winner in every election since 1972, most recently giving Donald Trump eighteen electoral college votes.

Idaho

This northern state has backed Republicans from Nixon and Ford in the '70s right up to and including Donald Trump in 2016. The Trump-Pence ticket was backed by almost six in ten residents of Idaho last November. Ronald Reagan’s 1984 victory was supported by a jaw-dropping 72% of Idaho voters. This is one true red state, however, they narrowly backed Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Kansas

North Dakota

This northern state is another one that would probably vote for a horse if it were a Republican presidential candidate. A striking total of 63% of state-residents backed Donald Trump in 2016. Less than three in ten voted for Hillary Clinton while 6.2% backed the Libertarian’s Gary Johnson. George Bush won with 61% back in 2000.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma was another state where Hillary Clinton had virtually no chance last year. She won less votes than Barack Obama in 2012 while Donald Trump won 65% of available votes. Gary Johnson also performed decently, winning almost 6% of the vote.

The closest time this red state came to backing a blue candidate was the 1976 election, in which Jimmy Carter beat incumbent Gerald Ford. Ford won just 13,266 votes more than Carter in the state.

Utah

Utah is usually a solidly Republican state, with just shy of three in four voters backing Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential bid. While Trump did win in 2016, independent candidate Evan McMullin won 21.5% of the vote, coming just six votes short of beating Hillary Clinton into third-place.

Wyoming

This mountain state is a strongly reliable Republican backer. Trump and Pence won just short of seven in ten votes last November, almost triple the amount won by Hillary Clinton.

Bonus: Nebraska

Unlike most states, Nebraska’s electoral college votes are not reflective of how the whole state votes. Nebraska is split by congressional districts, meaning that Nebraska can give votes to candidates from different parties. In every single election since 1972, most of the state has gone Republican. The only exception was that in the 2008 presidential vote, the state’s second district voted for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney. So other than this exception, Nebraksa could be counted as state that has always gone Republican since 1972.

A full list of how states have voted in recent elections can be accessed here.

Richard Wood

Richard Wood is a Masters student in Political Research at the University of Aberdeen and is Head of Media for campaign-group TalkPolitics. Other than politics, he is passionate about travel, running, and writing, as well as all things space-related.